Americans United - Ten Commandments displayshttps://www.au.org/tags/ten-commandments-displays
enTrouble In Tennessee: Gov. Haslam, Please Stand Up For The Constitution And Veto These Bad Billshttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trouble-in-tennessee-gov-haslam-please-stand-up-for-the-constitution-and
<a href="/about/people/joseph-l-conn">Joseph L. Conn</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">“The likely result of these divisive bills will be litigation, for which Tennessee taxpayers will be forced to pay.&quot;
--Amanda Rolat,
AU State Legislative Counsel</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The wall of separation between church and state is under tremendous fire in Tennessee, and we are asking Gov. Bill Haslam to help us defend it.</p><p>The state legislature has passed three measures that undermine religious liberty in public schools, and they are now sitting on the governor’s desk. One promotes creationist concepts in science classes, another allows teachers to participate in student-led religious activities and a third allows Ten Commandments displays at public schools and other public buildings.</p><p>In <a href="http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/americans-united-for-separation-of-church-and-state-asks-haslam-to-veto-three-bills/">a letter to Gov. Haslam </a>yesterday, Americans United urged him to veto all three misguided schemes.</p><p>Wrote AU State Legislative Counsel Amanda Rolat, “These three bills not only pose a threat to Tennessee’s public education, but also insert religion into Tennessee’s public schools, where courts have been particularly vigilant in monitoring religious expression because school-age children are more impressionable than adults…. [W]e respectfully ask you to carefully consider these bills and their significant effect on Tennessee’s public schools and citizenry.”</p><p>In the missive, Rolat explained the constitutional problems with each of the bills.</p><p>HB 368 dubs evolution “controversial” and allows teachers to help students “critique” the theory’s “scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses.” Implying that there is a scientific controversy around subjects like evolution, said Rolat, is “just plain false and bad science.” The bill is clearly designed, she said, to circumvent federal court rulings barring the teaching of creationism, a religious concept, as science.</p><p>HB 3266 invites teachers to join in student-led religious activities at schools before and after classes. Rolat said student-initiated, student-led prayer is constitutional, but the courts have held that school officials, teachers, and employees are not permitted to lead or participate in religious activities with students. “This is true,” she said, “whether the prayers take place during the school day or as part of extracurricular activities.”</p><p>HB 2658 allows government agencies, including public schools, to erect displays of “certain historical documents,” including the Ten Commandments, that are part of the “freedom and rich history” of Tennessee.</p><p>“The idea that the Ten Commandments are part of the ‘freedom and history’ of Tennessee is simply untrue,” asserted Rolat. “The U.S. and Tennessee Constitutions make no mention of the Ten Commandments, and the laws of the state are secular, not religious. In turn, this legislative scheme is constitutionally suspect and a threat to true religious freedom.” </p><p>Concluded Rolat, “The likely result of these divisive bills will be litigation, for which Tennessee taxpayers will be forced to pay. This legislative scheme does not truly aid religious observation; instead, it undermines religious freedom in Tennessee. These bills do not leave Tennessee’s schools and curriculum unaffected. The impact of your decision on Tennessee’s education and children cannot be overstated.”</p><p>The ball is in your court, Gov. Haslam. Please stand up for the U.S. Constitution and public schools that welcome all children. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/creationism-evolution">Creationism &amp; Evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-displays-and-holidays">Religious Displays and Holidays</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/creationism">creationism</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments-displays">Ten Commandments displays</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Location:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/our-work/grassroots/tennessee">Tennessee</a></span></div></div>Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:48:44 +0000Joseph L. Conn6961 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trouble-in-tennessee-gov-haslam-please-stand-up-for-the-constitution-and#commentsCommandments Crusade: La. Parish Ignores Court Rulings, Pushes Religious Display https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/commandments-crusade-la-parish-ignores-court-rulings-pushes-religious
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Some people just have to learn everything the hard way.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/ACLU-asks-info-on-Rapides-Ten-Commandments-vote-1322918.php">According</a> to a Louisiana newspaper, the Rapides Parish Police Jury has voted 8-1 to put the Ten Commandments on courtroom walls. (A police jury is what the people in some parts of Louisiana call their county council; its members are elected by the voters.)</p>
<p>The jury approved a motion to display the Decalogue, despite a strong warning from jury legal counsel.</p>
<p>“There have been numerous court opinions that this would be inappropriate to do because of the tradition of church and state," attorney Tom Wells said. “I know this is important to a lot of people, but my general opinion would be that this is inappropriate legally.”</p>
<p>He, of course, is right.</p>
<p>Many courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have ruled the Ten Commandments is a religious text and has no place in public buildings, especially when standing alone without any historical or other documents.</p>
<p>Just two months ago, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2011/02/au-applauds-decision-striking.html">ordered</a> a common pleas judge in Ohio to remove a Ten Commandments display from his courtroom, finding that his actions ran afoul of the Constitution and sent an explicit endorsement of religion.</p>
<p>Years ago, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore<a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2010/03/roy-moore-20.html"> insisted</a> on defending large granite Commandments monument he placed in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building. A federal court ordered he take it down. Yet he refused to remove the 2.5-ton monument, leading to his removal from the state supreme court in 2003.</p>
<p>You’d think this police jury would catch on – these courthouse Ten Commandment displays didn’t survive judicial scrutiny and neither will the displays in Rapides Parish.</p>
<p>Sadly, I’m not sure these local politicians care.</p>
<p>“I have about eight months left on this jury, and I want to be able to tell my grandkids I took a stand and got the Ten Commandments on the wall of the courthouse,” said Juror Jamie Floyd, who sponsored the motion.</p>
<p>“If that’s all I get done in these four years, that’s enough for me and my family,” he said.</p>
<p>I wonder if Floyd’s grandkids would still be proud if they knew his vote cost the parish thousands of dollars in litigation over a matter that has already been resolved time and time again?</p>
<p>A courtroom is the last place to display a religious text. Our judges are supposed to base their decisions on the Constitution, not the Ten Commandments or any other religious tenets.</p>
<p>I’m counting on the judges in Rapides Parish to know better than this legislative body. Despite the police jury’s decision, each judge has the final say over what is displayed in his or her courtroom.</p>
<p>They’d be wise to follow the law.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-mottos-pledges-and-resolutions">Religious Mottos, Pledges and Resolutions</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-deweese">James DeWeese</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana">louisiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/official-prayer-religious-displays-amp-ceremonial-religion-outside-schools">Official Prayer, Religious Displays &amp;amp; Ceremonial Religion (outside schools)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/rapides-parish">Rapides Parish</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-displays-public-land">Religious displays on public land</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments-displays">Ten Commandments displays</a></span></div></div>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:50:27 +0000Sandhya Bathija2516 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/commandments-crusade-la-parish-ignores-court-rulings-pushes-religious#comments